Blade Runner Redux - Tesla Cybertruck!

[freebeard]

There's little incentive to have a thermally efficient space in a conventional vehicle....

SpaceX. Starship.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by freebeard

SpaceX. Starship.

Which of those is conventional?

Heated seats and steering wheels sound critical with an electric vehicle.

[JSH]

I wonder how much the stainless steel body will increase insurance rates for the CyberTruck. Scratches are one thing but with an unpainted surface you can’t use filler. That means body shops can’t hammer out or pull dents. To repair the main unibody the body shop needs to: cut out the dent, weld a repair panel in place, grind the weld smooth, and then seamlessly polished and blend the finish so the repair is invisible. They will have to match the oxidation on the old panels exactly. The repair has to be perfect.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Insurance rates will remain low as Teslas are already involved in 6x fewer crashes. By the time CT comes out it will be lower still.

Not being able to use filler is one of the reasons I'm getting a CT. Any repair will have to be done properly, and if I'm not happy with the blending, I can blend the entire truck myself. Plus, I may simply not care about scratches like I do on a pretty painted car.

I suspect all the CT panels will be bonded and riveted, so panel replacement will be the way to go. Body shops charge insurance the cost of a new fender then use that money to bog up the damaged one. So it will force body shops to be more honest.

There also won't be any hail damage claims.

[freebeard]

Xist — Heated seats and steering wheels handlebars.

The Starship passenger version has big picture windows.


https://i.pinimg.com/236x/a3/60/71/a...97a96d3494.jpg

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

I suspect all the CT panels will be bonded and riveted, so panel replacement will be the way to go. Body shops charge insurance the cost of a new fender then use that money to bog up the damaged one. So it will force body shops to be more honest.

Remember that the body is structural in the CT, so it probably isn't as simple as riveting a new panel on. Body damage then simultaneously becomes frame damage.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

Insurance rates will remain low as Teslas are already involved in 6x fewer crashes. By the time CT comes out it will be lower still.

Why is insurance more for Teslas if they are involved in 6x fewer crashes?

[Xist]

All-aluminum bodies, for one, but Musk is working on it:

Tesla's policy sold through State National charges an average of $2,965 for a 30-year-old male driving a 2019 Tesla model 3. That's 22% cheaper than the statewide average for a new Model 3; however, GEICO, AAA of Northern California and Progressive all had more competitive rates.

State National and Tesla have said they have three strategies for reducing rates: reducing repair costs by providing service directly from Tesla service centers, adding an autopilot discount, and lowering the commission normally taken by an insurance company.

Tesla says they can do body work cheaper than third-party shops.

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Remember that the body is structural in the CT, so it probably isn't as simple as riveting a new panel on. Body damage then simultaneously becomes frame damage.

Spot welds. Like an old VW bus.

The arthropod structure has all the mass at the outer surface. In any collision it will deform less and protect the lighter structure that forms the door sills and partitions.

My understanding is that the structure is two triangular trusses with double longitudinal bulkheads forming the inner and outer walls of the four wheel wells. The rest is lighter construction.

Hell for stout.

[Xist]

Yes and you can remove spot welds and weld in new panels.